Facelift

Conveniently located to serve the areas of Cleveland, OH

A facelift is a procedure that lifts and repositions the deeper facial tissues and removes excess skin to soften visible signs of aging across the face and neck. It treats concerns such as jowls, sagging cheeks, and a jawline that has lost its edge. The goal is a face that looks rested and natural, not pulled.

Dr. Paul Vanek is a double board-certified general and plastic surgeon at Mentor Plastic Surgery & Medspa in Concord, OH, near Cleveland. He carefully tailors each facelift to your individual facial structure and aesthetic goals. He can also pair your facelift with other procedures, such as Renuvion skin tightening, fat grafting, and other facial surgeries. Dr. Vanek personally performs every surgical procedure and provides continuous care from your initial consultation through your complete recovery. His experience and passion for facial rejuvenation help patients achieve natural-looking results and restore a youthful, refreshed appearance.

To schedule your consultation with Dr. Vanek, call our Concord office at (440) 205-5750 or contact us online.

About Facelifts

A facelift, also known as a rhytidectomy, is one of the most popular facial cosmetic procedures performed in the United States. (1) This procedure directly addresses age-related changes in the lower two-thirds of the face, where aging shows up most visibly as sagging skin and displaced fat. During the procedure, Dr. Vanek repositions the deeper facial tissues and removes excess skin to lift the cheeks, jowls, and jawline. It restores the natural contours of your face that may have softened with age or environmental factors.

What Causes Jowls and Sagging?

Because the face is constantly exposed to environmental stressors like sun exposure, it is often among the first areas to show noticeable signs of aging. However, facial aging affects both the surface skin and deeper facial tissues. As we age, collagen and elastin break down, causing the skin to thin and lose elasticity. (1) As a result, the fat pads in the cheeks shrink, and your jaw and cheeks slowly lose volume. Over time, the structural foundation that holds the lower face upright descends, taking soft tissue with it. This leads to common concerns such as jowls and a loss of jawline definition. (1)

Dr. Vanek’s Facelift Approach

Dr. Vanek performs multiple facelift techniques to help you achieve your unique goals and needs. The superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) is a supportive, fibrous layer of tissue that connects your facial muscles and deeper structures to your skin. To deliver natural-looking, long-lasting results, Dr. Vanek performs a SMAS facelift, carefully tightening this foundational plane to restore youthful contours. This approach is ideal for patients whose concerns are primarily in the lower face and neck, such as the jawline, chin, and submental region.

Dr. Vanek uses a multi-vector approach for a more natural-looking result. (1) Instead of just pulling the skin vertically, a multi-vector approach lifts different areas of the face in their individual, precise directions of aging. The neck is simultaneously managed to optimize both facial contour and neck contour in the same surgery. For instance, Dr. Vanek lifts the cheeks more upward to restore volume while pulling the jawline up and back to redefine the lower face. This similarly occurs in the neck with submental muscle plication that restores the youthful position of the platysma muscle. Some patients also require removal of the submental fat pad to enhance the appearance of their final neck contour. Also in the neck, the lateral SMAS is suspended behind the ear in the deep layer to give a handsome, chiseled look in men, and a soft, beautiful look in women.

Because the deeper structural layer supports the lift, he repositions the skin back using appropriate tension. This technique creates a natural, longer-lasting result, restoring youthful volume and shape while avoiding a tight or “windblown” appearance. In older facelifts, a core concept was that the skin we leave behind is no different and no better than the skin we take away. The advanced modality of Renuvion helium plasma has revolutionized the longevity and outcome of modern facial rejuvenation. Dr. Vanek achieves exceptional outcomes with Renuvion; he is a published author, Renuvion instructor, and national thought leader for the technology. Under his innovative care, you can achieve tighter, more robust youthful restoration with the addition of Renuvion helium plasma at the time of your surgery. Dr. Vanek will discuss your candidacy for incorporating this modality into your facelift at the time of your consultation.

Younger patients, or those with less excess skin, may be better suited for UAL (Ultrasound-Assisted Liposuction) combined with Renuvion as a minimally invasive procedure to rejuvenate the face and neck. In certain circumstances and depending on personal anatomy, Dr. Vanek may recommend a minimal-access cranial suspension (MACS) lift, which elevates tissues with a shorter incision, purse-string sutures, and limited skin undermining. (1)

Benefits

A facelift performed by Dr. Vanek offers numerous benefits, such as: (1)

  • Reduced Sagging: Lifts descended fat and tightens loose skin around the cheeks, jawline, and jowls.
  • Smooths Deep Wrinkles: Restores severe creases, such as smile lines and provides softer folds around the mouth.
  • Improves Contours: Rebuilds definition in the lower face and can remove a double chin and extra neck fat when combined with a neck lift.
  • Long-Lasting Results: Delivers natural-looking rejuvenation with results that can last for a decade.
  • Boosts Confidence: Can enhance self-esteem and help your outward appearance match your internal energy.

Candidates

Depending on how your face has aged, your overall health, and your aesthetic goals, you may be an ideal candidate for a facelift. You may be an ideal candidate if you:

  • Have jowls, sagging skin, deep facial folds, or visible signs of aging.
  • Want to restore definition in your jawline and volume in your cheeks.
  • Are seeking a comprehensive, longer-lasting restoration of the lower face and neck that fillers or other non-surgical treatments cannot provide.
  • Are in good overall health and do not use products of combustion (nicotine or cannabis vapes or smoking).
  • Maintain a stable weight.
  • Have realistic expectations of recovery and what this procedure can accomplish.

Dr. Vanek will confirm during your personal consultation whether a facelift is right for you.

Personal Consultation

The first step toward your facelift is scheduling a personal consultation with Dr. Vanek. During this appointment, Dr. Vanek will meet with you one-on-one to discuss your aesthetic concerns, learn more about your goals, and explain what a facelift entails. After a patient care coordinator explains expected downtime, Dr. Vanek spends at least an hour reviewing videos and before-and-after photos of similar patients, explaining expected bruising, reviewing lifestyle factors, and deeply understanding your goals for your procedure. This comprehensive review allows you and him to truly understand your goals and form a plan of action. This is not a standard surgical consultation; Dr. Vanek speaks to each patient like a family member. He wants each patient to deeply understand their own motivations before embarking on a surgical journey.

To ensure that your body can safely tolerate the procedure and the anesthesia, he will evaluate lifestyle factors and review your medical history, including past surgeries, chronic conditions, the use of nicotine, drug allergies, and more. He will then perform a comprehensive physical examination of your face, assessing skin elasticity, jawline definition, jowls, and the degree of neck sagging. Based on this assessment, Dr. Vanek will recommend a specific approach and provide a personalized treatment plan with all the information you need for a successful procedure. Together, you and Dr. Vanek will discuss realistic expectations for your results and recovery, along with a complete breakdown of procedure costs.

To schedule your consultation with Dr. Vanek, call our Concord office at (440) 205-5750 or contact us online.

Preparation

Once Dr. Vanek finalizes your treatment plan, you will receive clear, detailed preoperative instructions tailored to your specific health profile. These instructions may direct you to:

  • Stop smoking, vaping, and all nicotine use in the weeks leading up to your procedure and throughout your recovery.
  • Undergo any necessary pre-surgical testing via your primary care physician or an approved healthcare provider that Dr. Vanek recommends to satisfy your anesthesia requirements.
  • When medically appropriate, avoid taking blood-thinning medications or supplements.
  • Arrange for a trusted adult to drive you home from your procedure and care for you during the first 24 to 48 hours of recovery.
  • Prepare a comfortable recovery space at home and arrange all medical needs well before your procedure.

All patients receive a thoroughly written packet of information. This includes preparation instructions, procedure details, expected recovery timelines, post-procedure symptoms, swelling and pain management, and even the expected emotions that may arise post-procedure. Dr. Vanek will review this thoroughly with you before your surgery, ensuring you understand all details of your upcoming treatment.

Procedure

Before the procedure begins, Dr. Vanek marks your face while you sit upright to map out the incisions. Then you will receive general anesthesia so you remain asleep and comfortable throughout the entire procedure.

Dr. Vanek discreetly places the incisions in the hairline and around the natural contours of the ears to access the SMAS and other necessary tissues. He then adjusts the SMAS layer to lift facial structures, redistribute fat, and tighten any loose or weakened ligaments. Next, he carefully redrapes the overlying skin to fit the new facial contours with appropriate tension while trimming away any excess tissue. Finally, he meticulously closes the incisions with fine sutures to minimize visible scarring. (1)

Depending on your customized treatment plan, Dr. Vanek may integrate additional procedures into your facelift to deliver more comprehensive, cohesive results such as:

  • Neck Lift: Improves sagging skin, muscle banding, and under-chin fullness for a smoother, more even look.
  • Autologous Fat Transfer: Transfers fat from one area of your body to another using liposuction to resculpt and restore volume in the face and neck.
  • Endoscopic Brow Lift: Elevates your upper forehead to restore a more refreshed, alert appearance and soften visible signs of aging across the upper face and around your eyes through three 1-inch incisions without compromising the hairline.
  • Eyelid Surgery: Rejuvenates the eyes, creating a more youthful, rested appearance.
  • Laser Skin Resurfacing: Uses advanced light- and laser-based technologies to remove damaged outer skin layers and stimulate new collagen and elastin production to improve skin texture.

Renuvion Skin Tightening

As a key opinion leader and national expert in its innovative technology, Dr. Vanek often uses Renuvion skin tightening to optimize facelift results. (2) This specialized wand delivers helium plasma beneath the skin to briefly heat deep structural tissue, causing it to contract. While the facelift physically removes excess skin, Renuvion technology works from the inside out to actively firm the remaining skin you keep. Recognized as an international thought leader, published author, and speaker on helium plasma since 2015, Dr. Vanek uses these unique properties to keep the retained skin more elastic, resilient, and evenly toned. (3)

Recovery and Results

Every patient’s recovery timeline varies for several reasons. Individual factors, including age, overall health, skin elasticity, the chosen technique, and more, all affect how your body heals. Following Dr. Vanek’s recovery guidelines closely is essential to ensure a smooth healing process and optimal facelift results.

At Mentor Plastic Surgery, we use the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Protocol to help our patients recover comfortably and quickly. The ERAS Protocol uses advanced pain management techniques and encourages early mobilization to minimize post-operative discomfort. You can expect some swelling, bruising, and tightness for several days following your procedure. For optimal healing, patients must sleep on their backs with their heads elevated above their chests at all times. (1)

Dr. Vanek may recommend short, gentle walks one day after surgery to help control swelling and promote healthy circulation. Most patients feel well enough to resume light activities and desk work within about two weeks, although healing will continue beyond this initial recovery period. To ensure your facelift recovery is progressing as expected, attend your follow-up appointments as scheduled and avoid physically taxing activities, such as heavy exercise, until Dr. Vanek clears you. Most patients are healed substantially by the fourteenth day post-op, though this does vary slightly depending on physiology.

As swelling gradually resolves and the tissues settle into their new contours, your facelift results will become increasingly visible. Over the next several months, natural-looking improvements will continue to emerge, revealing more refined and youthful facial contours. In your recovery, Dr. Vanek also includes laser treatments for scars at months 2, 3, and 4 to help their color, contour, and texture become more imperceptible. While results vary for the individual, patients can expect improved definition in the cheeks, jawline, and lower face that lasts for years. (1)

Cost of Facelift in Cleveland, OH

The total cost of your facelift depends on several factors, including the technique used, anesthesia requirements, whether Dr. Vanek combines your procedure with another, and other details. During your personal consultation with Dr. Vanek, you will receive a comprehensive price quote that accurately reflects your treatment plan.

For questions about payment and coverage, please call our Concord office at (440) 205-5750 or contact us online.

FAQ

How can I maintain my facelift results?

As you age, your skin has changed in texture, color, and tone. The architecture is addressed by facial rejuvenation surgery. We can address texture, color, and tone before or after your surgery by using Sciton laser technologies to globally improve skin appearance and quality. (4) We know we can give you more long-lasting results and postpone the consequences of aging, possibly even bypassing future surgeries, if we intermittently use Sciton laser technologies over subsequent years. (3) You can maintain your results by wearing sunscreen daily, because sun exposure can darken fresh incisions and lead to permanent discoloration. Patients can also preserve their results by following a consistent skincare routine, keeping a stable weight, and avoiding nicotine products. Additionally, our medspa offers upkeep treatments such as Vivace Microneedling and laser and light treatments for skin quality or Botox for upper-face lines. Most importantly, patients should attend all of their scheduled follow-up appointments and follow Dr. Vanek’s postoperative instructions.

Is a facelift better than fillers or Botox?

A facelift, fillers, and Botox all address different aging concerns. Fillers add youthful volume to hollow areas of the face, while Botox relaxes the muscles that cause expression wrinkles. Neither injectable can lift descended tissue or remove excess, loose skin. Injectables are an ideal solution for patients with signs of early aging who want ongoing maintenance. In contrast, a facelift becomes necessary once advanced sagging and jowls appear. Deciding between injectables and a facelift depends on your aesthetic goals. Injectables require ongoing upkeep, whereas a facelift requires initial downtime but delivers comprehensive, long-lasting results.

Do I need a facelift, a neck lift, or both?

A facelift addresses visible signs of aging in the cheeks, jowls, and jawline, while a neck lift tightens loose skin, muscle bands, and fullness beneath the chin. Because the lower face and neck typically age together, Dr. Vanek often performs both treatments in one procedure for a more comprehensive result. During your consultation, he can recommend a plan that is right for you.

What is the best age for a facelift?

There is no true “best” age for a facelift, but the most common age range is between late 30s and late 60s. What matters more than age is how facial tissues have descended and if they are a source of concern.

Can laser resurfacing be combined with facelift surgery?

Yes, it can, and to great effect! Consider a tent; the poles keep it supported, and you’ll occasionally need to apply new coatings or mend holes in the canvas. Facial rejuvenation works the same way: surgery supports the architecture of facial tissues. Laser resurfacing refreshes the skin. The result is a cohesive youthful structure and glow.

References

  1. Yang AJ, Hohman MH. Rhytidectomy. PubMed. 2021. Accessed October 9, 2026. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564338/
  2. Ruff PG, Gaurav Bharti, Hunstad JP, et al. Safety and Efficacy of Renuvion Helium Plasma to Improve the Appearance of Loose Skin in the Neck and Submental Region. Aesthetic Surgery Journal. 2023;43(10):1174-1188. doi:10.1093/asj/sjad055
  3. Nagy MW, Vanek PF, Jr. A multicenter, prospective, randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial comparing VASER-assisted Lipoplasty and suction-assisted Lipoplasty. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2012;129(4):681e-689e.
  4. Kimbrell ML, Holcomb JD. Histological evaluation of human skin biopsies following subdermal helium plasma radiofrequency treatment. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2026;14:e8116. doi:10.1097/GOX.0000000000008116